5.  The applicant was born in 1983 and lives in Slovyansk.
6.  On 1 January 2002 the applicant, with a number of his friends, including K., celebrated a New Year party at the bar 'Tor' in Slovyansk. At around 3 a.m. K. picked a quarrel with P., another visitor to the bar. The quarrel turned into a big fight in which the applicant took part on the side of K.
7.  On 14 January 2002 the Slavyansk town police instituted criminal proceedings for disorderly conduct in relation to the above fight.
8.  In the evening of 24 January 2002 the applicant and K. were attacked by unknown persons. As a result of the attack, the applicant was injured and K. died.
9.  At 2.30 a.m. on 25 January 2002 the police officers, in the knowledge that the applicant and K. were both attacked that night, visited the applicant's home and took him to the local police station in order to question him as an eyewitness to K.'s death. According to the Government, the applicant agreed to go to the police station voluntarily and there was no coercion on the part of the police officers. However, according to the applicant, the police officers forced him to go to the police station without regard for the injuries he was visibly suffering from.
10.  Upon arrival at the police station the applicant was questioned about the circumstances of K.'s death. That questioning, though with some pauses, lasted until 1 p.m. of the same day.
11.  As from 11 a.m. on that day the police, knowing that on the night of 1 January 2002 the applicant had been present at the bar 'Tor', decided also to question the applicant as a witness in respect of the fight which had taken place at the bar that night. The applicant was questioned in respect of that incident till 7 p.m.
12.  Between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. the police also questioned P. and other victims of the fight, who, when confronted with the applicant, identified him as one of the persons who had injured them.
13.  At 9.30 p.m. on that day the police investigator, pursuant to Articles 106 and 115 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (see paragraph 33 below), drew up an arrest order (протокол затримання) authorising the applicant's preliminary detention as a suspect in the crime of disorderly conduct in the bar 'Tor'.
14.  On 26 January 2002 the police instituted criminal proceedings on account of K.'s death.
15.  On 28 January 2002 the applicant was charged with the crime of disorderly conduct in the bar 'Tor', and brought before the Slavyanskyy Town Court (the “Town Court”). The Town Court, relying on Article 165-2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, extended the applicant's preliminary detention, as a temporary preventive measure, up to 31 January 2002. It noted that the case file did not contain sufficient information characterising the applicant and, in particular, the evidence that the applicant might intend to abscond.
16.  On 31 January 2002 the Town Court ordered the applicant's detention in custody as a preventive measure. It had regard to the “character of the applicant”, the circumstances in which the crime had been committed, the fact that he had been charged with a serious crime, and the necessity to ensure the execution of procedural decisions.
17.  On 26 April 2002, after the investigation had been completed, the case file was transferred to the Town Court for committing the applicant for trial.
18.  On 11 May 2002 the Town Court committed the applicant for trial. It also upheld the preventive measure, in respect of the applicant, without giving any reasons.
19.  On 12 August 2002 the Town Court decided to maintain the preventive measure (the detention in custody) in respect of the applicant. It did not provide any specific reasons for that decision.
20.  On 4 April 2003 the applicant lodged an application with the Town Court alleging that, on 25 January 2002, he had been unlawfully taken to the police station and unlawfully held there until 28 January 2002, despite his bodily injuries and the absence of any medical assistance. He further contended that his subsequent pre-trial detention had been unlawful.
21.  On 22 May 2003 the Deputy President of the Town Court replied to the applicant and informed him that it was too late to challenge the lawfulness of his preliminary detention between 25 and 28 January 2002 as the case was at the trial stage. He further stated that the application of 4 April 2003 would be qualified as an ordinary request, submitted by a party to the proceedings, and that therefore it could only be considered in the course of the court hearing in his criminal case. He informed the applicant that the application would be considered on 26 June 2003.
22.  Subsequently, the judge in charge of the applicant's criminal case confirmed to the applicant that his application of 4 April 2003 for review of the lawfulness of his detention would be considered on 26 June 2003 in the course of the court hearing in his criminal case.
23.  On 26 June 2003 the Town Court, referring to the seriousness of the charges levelled against the applicant, found, in the presence of his counsel, that the applicant was being detained lawfully and that there had been no grounds to change the preventive measure. In this decision the Town Court did not address the issue of the applicant's preliminary detention.
24.  On 4 November 2003 the Town Court considered the applicant's request to change the preventive measure and rejected it, noting that the applicant's further detention had been necessitated by the gravity of the charges levelled against him.
25.  On an unspecified date the applicant complained to the Slavyansk Town Prosecutor's Office seeking to institute criminal proceedings against the police officers for his unlawful preliminary detention.
26.  On 26 March 2004 the deputy prosecutor refused to institute criminal proceedings against the police officers. He found that on 25 January 2002 the applicant had agreed to go to the police station voluntarily with the purpose of being interviewed concerning the death of K. The deputy prosecutor further noted that the applicant had later been questioned as a witness to the fight in the bar 'Tor'. In particular, at 3 p.m. of that day the applicant had been transferred to the police officer D. Between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. the applicant had been questioned by that police officer following which “the applicant's guilt in the fight had been established”. Later on, the applicant had been arrested because there had been enough evidence of his involvement in the latter crime. The deputy prosecutor therefore concluded that there had been no actus reus in the acts of the police officers. The applicant did not lodge a formal appeal against the prosecutor's decision of 26 March 2004.
27.  Subsequently, the Town Court informed the applicant that the lawfulness of his preliminary detention would be reviewed in the course of the trial in his criminal case.
28.  On 24 May 2004 the Town Court considered the applicant's other request for changing the preventive measure and found that the applicant's detention had been justified by the gravity of the charges levelled against him. It therefore held that the preventive measure should be left unchanged.
29.  On 7 June 2004 the Town Court found the applicant guilty of disorderly conduct and sentenced him to four years' imprisonment, but on the basis of the Amnesty Act released him from serving the sentence. It also noted that the applicant's preliminary detention had been lawful and no wrongdoing on the part of the police officers could be discerned. The Town Court further ordered that the applicant be released from custody immediately.
30.  By letters of 16 July and 4 August 2004 the Town Court informed the applicant that the lawfulness of his preliminary detention had been reviewed in the judgment of 7 June 2004.
31.  On 11 February and 27 October 2005 the Donetsk Regional Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court upheld the judgment of 7 June 2004 as substantiated.